Category: Events

Today was such a blast! We got to Marina Waves around 9AM in the morning and first thing we had to do was move our plane to the proper location which was the front of the line. One team ahead of us had withdrawn from the event so we became team #3 instead of #4.

Our friends started to come one by one until our station resembled a large diwaniya then judges started passing by to judge and ask questions about our plane. Every time a judge would see our plane they would get this shocked look on their faces but they all had sense of humors and cracked jokes with us. They all agreed though that our plane was the most comfortable one to sit in, kinda like a lazy boy version of a plane. Later that we found out one of the teams had a large helium canister which we quickly took advantage of. We kept filling balloons with helium and passing them around to everyone to inhale, that cracked everyone up for a while.

Finally around 2PM they started the event and we were the third plane to jump off. We were dressed as traditional Kuwaiti fisherman which didn’t make sense at all but its not like anything else did. Every team had to play a song and have a dance before they pushed the plane off the ramp and our song was Sabo7a. I think that and our dance which was also traditional Kuwaiti cracked up people the most. For me I think the dancing was the worst part, I hadn’t danced the traditional Kuwaiti dance since I was like 10 years old in school so I was just a mess but who cared it was still fun. The rest of the team, Khalid, Bader and Marzouq were naturals though as you can see in the video at the end of this post.

Once we were done with the dance we got behind the plane and Bader who was our pilot got into it and we started to push. We pushed as hard and fast as we could and just before the end we let go and stood and watched. All I saw was our plane fly out a few meters and then slam hard into the water with Bader lying on his back and this look of horror and pain on his face. It was priceless! It was then our turn to jump in, we didn’t have to but we wanted to. The only reason we participated in Flugtag was to have some fun and jumping in was the last thing we had to do.

When you look down from the edge the water looks really far but I thought about that for just a second before I just went ahead and jumped in. For some reason I decided to land on my ass so I landed pretty hard and it was kinda painful but not as bad as landing on your back which Khalid and Bader did. The water was amazing and it was just an incredible rush jumping off after such a long and amazing day. I could hear the crowds cheering and laughing and I could also hear Bader, Khalid and Marzouq all laughing. We then got on the jet skis that came to rescue us to take us back to shore, me and Khalid got on behind this one guy and just as he was taking off the whole jet ski flipped on its side and we landed on an adjacent jet ski which was pretty hilarious at the time I don’t know why.

When we got back to the shore we met up with the other teams and they congratulated us and we shared with them our experience. After that we just packed up and left since we were all wet and tired.

I have to say all the other teams we met and interacted with were also a lot of fun. Majority of the guys there were there just like us to have a lot of fun. If you actually saw the planes at the event you can tell most didn’t care about winning, everyone just wanted to enjoy the day and crash land with style. From the teams, to the Red Bull staff and even the judges, everyone was very positive, super friendly and a lot of fun. I would definitely want to participate again next year maybe even with an updated plane although I love ours the way it is. After this event I actually suggested we convert our plane to a raft and just join the yearly raft race with it.

The pictures above were taken by Nicole except for the picture of goatse (we had spray painted it at the rear of our plane), that was taken by me. The video below was shot by Nat. Special thanks to Hashem (he doesn’t have a blog so I could link to) for helping us out by being our ground crew and helium supplier.

Kuwait’s Red Bull Flugtag 2007 from Mark on Vimeo.

This Friday at 1:30PM my team will be participating in the Red Bull Flugtag. We are called Imperial27 (more details here) and we will be the 4th team flying off the ramp. We put the final touches a while ago on the plane which were our sponsors logos. We got four sponsors which are Hungry Bunny, Kids ‘R’ Us, Pizza Italia and Like Cola. We are going to have a blast!

I don’t know if anyone has any news about this or pictures, but my friend just called me telling me that the ice skating rink is completely on fire. I wonder how that could have happened or if they put it out, its an ice rink how could it catch on fire, its cold and has ice. And if it is damaged to the point its beyond repair would they build a new one?

Does anyone have anymore updates?

Optimus Designs is a an entrepreneurial architecture company which is established by three young Kuwaiti architects. Last year they had an event called Funkyture where they displayed and sold furniture that they designed and manufactured themselves. They have some really creative original designs with a taste of their own. It was a very successful event last year and it is being repeated this year, I really recommend everyone to go check it out if you want to see something different. They can even design some furniture for you if you have something specific in mind. They have done houses and offices, interior design and architectural design. Take a look at the link for pictures of their previous event.

Date:
27 Oct – 6pm
28 Oct to Nov 1 – 10 am to 1pm & 5 pm to 10 pm

Location:
Qadsiya
Block1
Bader Street
House 11

Link: Optimus Designs

A bunch of 16 year old girls put together a horror walking game in their school carnival last year and because it turned out to be a blast they decided to set up a larger version at Shaab Park so it could be experienced by more people. They’ve rented a hall at Shaab Park and the game which they’ve called “Crime Scenes” will be running for the first three days of Eid (13, 14 and 15th of October) from 6 to 10PM.

The game is the girls creation and they put everything together themselves, it’s also the first time a game like this has been set up in Kuwait. The downside to all this is that due to the fact that the young girls are running the horror game themselves, they are only allowing boys under 10 and women of any age to participate in their game.

For more information you can check out their ad [Here]
and a YouTube video [Here]

Mughrabi has pictures of the Zain launch ceremony that was held yesterday. They are on his flickr account and you can check them by clicking [Here]

Gulf Run is a yearly event where guys with fast cars take them The registration for the Gulf Run event that will be held on November 15th is now open. The cost for participating is KD365 and this includes:

1. Registration for One Driver and One Car to GulfRun3
2. Qualified Racing Instructors and Drivers to guide you through the track events
3. Automobile transportation from Kuwait to Bahrain and back by Agility
4. Initial medical service team and fire crew on standby

I am probably going to go with them this year but as a passenger and I will probably be blogging from the actual event. To register or if you want more information or pictures from last years event, visit the Gulf Run website. [Link]

Fatma Ghadban recently represented Kuwait in Miss Arab World which was held in Cairo. She lost to Miss Bahrain. This is not a joke. More pictures and details after the jump. [Link]

Thanks Asooma

BuzBerry, a blog run by a group of young Kuwaitis are trying to encourage people to read. To accomplish that they’ve set up a competition in which to enter you need to read and review one of the following four books:

1) A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
2) As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
3) Night by Elie Wiesel
4) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Now here is where things get interesting, there will be three winners who will win one of the following prizes:

First place: Nokia 8600 Luna
Second place: Apple iPod
Third Place: Apple iPod Shuffle

If you are interested in participating in this competition you need to email them by August 8th informing them. The deadline for entering your review will be September 1st.

For more information on this competition check out the BuzBerry blog. [Link]

In June I posted about how a group of us applied for the Red Bull Flugtag which is going to be held in November at Marina Waves. Well today we got word that our application and plane design got approved.

Our team is called Imperial27, in remembrance of Imperial Airways which was the first airline that flew in and out of Kuwait back in 1927. The team will be composed of lead pilot and magician Nibaq, accompanied by conspiring engineering extraordinaries Marzouq, Mark and K.

Today was the famous International Hot Dog Eating Competition in the US. Me and some friends have been talking about this competition for a few days now and I had a feeling Kobayashi was going to lose because he had an injury (jaw problem). I turned out to be right because he lost to Joey Chestnut who is now the world champion. Kobayashi who was the champion for the past 6 years straight managed to eat 63 hot dogs in 12 minutes compared to Joey who ate 66. [Link]

Kobayashi is still the hamburger eating champion (97 hamburgers in 8 minutes). [Link]

Just a reminder, today is the last day to sign up for the Red Bull Flugtag that is going to be held at Marina Waves on November 2nd. I am teaming up with Nibaq and Marzouq on this and our plane will be built using a tried, tested and successful design, the Nintendo DS. Our plane will be a giant Nintendo DS that uses its folding design to flap us towards the winning line.

Check out the Red Bull site for more details. [Link]

update: K.theKuwaiti is now part of the team.

This was actually done here in Kuwait. Pretty cool. [YouTube]

Cinemagic who are entertaining people every Wednesday night with movies have now created a Documentary Night which is going to be held every Tuesday. This week they will be playing Al Gore’s controversial Academy Award winning Documentary about Global Warming, “An Inconvenient Truth“. The location is the same, Bait Lothan in Salmiya and the movie will run from 7:30PM till around 9:30PM.

As always, attendance is free of charge and they encourage you to invite guests. Seating is limited, so make sure you come a little early. Snacks and refreshments will be served.

The Portuguese national soccer team (with all their stars) will be playing the local Salmiya Club on the 5th of June here in Kuwait. Ticket prices cost KD30, KD20, KD10, and KD5. There are also places reserved just for families and those ticket prices range between KD10 and KD30.

For more information you can check out the event website:
https://www.alsalmiyaclub.com/portugal/

Thanks Armani_Exchange